Rebecca

1. General Impressions

Gather initial thoughts and broad opinions about the book.

• The narrator of the text is never named. How did this impact your impression of her?
• Had you seen a movie or TV adaptation before you read the novel? If so, did the novel meet your expectations, or was the novel different from the adaptation?
• The novel includes literary features from ghost stories. Did the novel scare you, and why?

2. Personal Reflection and Connection

Encourage readers to connect the book’s themes and characters with their personal experiences.

• Much of the novel follows the narrator’s attempts to live up to the spirit of Rebecca. Have you ever had the impossible task of filling someone else’s shoes? Did you react similarly or differently to the narrator?
• Maxim almost literally gets away with murder, but at the end, it is implied that Mrs. Danvers punishes him herself. Who were you rooting for in the novel? Have you ever witnessed someone getting away with something, or a poetic justice after the fact?
• Rebecca is an antagonistic force for most of the novel. What were your feelings about Rebecca while you read the text? Did your opinion change after Maxim reveals that he murdered her?
• Maxim and the narrator’s marriage features an age gap and an asymmetric power dynamic.